Top surgeon forced to resign over semen

A top surgeon has been forced to quit his post over comments he wrote about semen and its effect on the health, happiness and well-being of women.

Dr. Lazar Greenfield resigned from his position as the president-elect of the American College of Surgeons following a Valentine’s day editorial he wrote citing research which found that women who had unprotected sex were less depressed than women who used condoms, arguing semen was the factor which made the difference.

In the article he explained that research has found mood enhancers like estrone, cortisol, prolactin, oxytocin, serotonin, and melatonin are presence in semen – all of which can be attributed to combating depression.

The editorial said, “Female college students having unprotected sex were significantly less depressed than were those whose partners used condoms (Arch. Sex. Behav. 2002;31:289-93). Their better moods were not just a feature of promiscuity, because women using condoms were just as depressed as those practicing total abstinence. The benefits of semen contact also were seen in fewer suicide attempts and better performance on cognition tests. So there's a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there's a better gift for that day than chocolates.”

The editorial outraged a number of women in the field, arguing it was nothing more than male chauvinism.

The Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons received numerous complaints from colleges in the medical community. Greenfield issued a statement of regret, but complaints continued. It is unlikely however that his resignation will end the controversy.

Greenfield remains however an emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. He is a well known doctor, having invented the Greenfield filter, a device that prevents blood clots from traveling to the lungs.

He has been replaced as president-elect by a female surgeon, Dr. Patricia J. Numann.